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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


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Ubrmy 


■',..,. 


THE   BERKELEY  CLUB 

AND    ITS    FOUNDER 


ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE 

BERKELEY  CLUB 

1873  —  1909 
Thursday  Evening  February  18th,  1909 

DANIEL   COIT   GILMAN,  LL.  D, 

FOUNDER 

Born  July  6,  1831.     Died  October  13,  1908 


f  €>P  THE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/anniversaryofberOOberkrich 


PROCEEDINGS 

At 
Meeting  of  Berkeley  Club,  Held  February  18,  1909 

The  evening  was  devoted  to  exercises  appropriate  to  an 
anniversary  occasion,  and  to  the  memory  of  the  Founder 
of  the  Berkeley  Club,  Daniel  Coit  Gilman,  whose  recent 
death  has  brought  to  a  close  a  distinguished  and  useful 
career  in  the  cause  of  higher  education. 

Dr.  John  K.  McLean  presided  as  host,  and  opened  the 
meeting  as  follows: 

The  exercises  of  the  evening  are  to  be  jointly  a  recog-  Dr.  John  K. 
nition  of  this  as  our  Thirty-sixth  Founder's  Day ;  and  in  McLean 
commemoration  of  the  late  President  Gilman,  our  foun- 
der.    It  has  been  devolved  upon  me  to  give  an  opening 
sketch  along  both  lines. 

Dr.  Gilman  arrived  in  California  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, 1872,  to  assume  the  Presidency  of  the  University 
of  California.  That  institution  was  still  located  in  a 
scattered  group  of  buildings  in  Oakland.  Dr.  Gilman 
took  a  house  in  the  vicinity,  and  there  made  his  home ;  a 
home  of  light  and  warmth,  and  of  incessant  hospitality, 
whence  went  forth  influences  which  have  left  permanent 
and  most  valuable  marks  upon  the  State  of  California  and 
the  entire  Pacific  Coast. 

The  Club  was  established  after  the  pattern  of  a  very 
successful  one  of  which,  in  New  Haven,  Dr.  Gilman  had 
been  for  some  years  a  member.  The  new  organization 
began  without  constitution  or  by-law ;  but  in  lieu  of  them 
there  were  "understandings,"  two  in  number.  First,  the 
meetings  were  to  rotate  among  the  members'  houses,  and 


thus  save  rent  and  light.  Second,  no  dinners  or  suppers 
were  to  be  provided,  only  a  collation,  wholesome,  but  of 
the  simplest  stamp,  and  cold;  nothing  hot  beyond  a  cup 
of  tea  or  coffee.  Quite  naturally  and  inevitably  the  tradi- 
tional ham  sandwich  made  frequent  appearances  at  our 
frugal  board,  with  other  viands  of  like  renown.  Perhaps, 
however,  instead  of  designating  those  modest  repasts  as 
"collations,"  a  fitter  and  more  descriptive  term  would  be 
"cold  rations."  That  expression,  at  all  events,  would  well 
characterize  the  after-impression  left  with  the  partaker. 
The  affair,  as  you  perceive,  was  intended  to  be  of  a  very 
earnest  nature; — to  the  fullest  extent  a  case  of  high 
thinking  and  plain  living. 

These  "understandings,"  as  I  find  by  reference  to  the 
record,  remained  in  effect  for  a  little  more  than  two 
months  and  a  half;  after  which,  as  first  result,  the  re- 
volving luminary  located.  The  reason  for  this  change, 
not  noted  in  the  records,  but  indelibly  stamped  upon  mem- 
ory, was  the  difficulty  of  finding  each  other's  house, 
especially  of  dark  nights  and  wet  ones.  Oakland  in  those 
days  was  not  in  either  of  the  two  senses  a  much  dryer 
town  than  it  is  to-day.  It  was  altogether  unfurnished 
with  three-branch  electroliers,  and  except  within  a  very 
limited  area  in  the  center  of  the  town  destitute  of  side- 
walks. Hence  the  propensity  with  the  Berkeley  Club 
member  to  get  hopelessly  bewildered  and  turned  back 
home ;  or  to  arrive  late  at  the  place  of  meeting,  so  plas- 
tered with  adobe  and  the  other  ingredients  of  our  rich 
and  newly  stirred  up  soil  as  to  make  it  for  the  moment 
difficult  to  decide  whether  the  incomer  were  a  lofty  soul 
seeking  enlightenment  along  the  ways  of  the  simple  life, 
or  a  stray  worshipper  at  an  altogether  different  shrine  and 
follower  of  a  different  cult. 


As  to  the  second  understanding,  touching  our  collation, 
that  also  soon  came  to  grief,  in  an  accidental  way.  The 
turn  to  be  host  fell  upon  a  recent  initiate ;  who,  grown 
familiar  with  the  quality  of  our  refections,  but  as  yet  re- 
maining in  ignorance  of  the  understanding  which  re- 
quired things  to  be  as  he  saw  them,  he  being  a  man  more 
closely  in  touch  with  the  good  things  of  life  than  some 
others  of  us,  felt  so  moved  with  compassion  that  when 
his  appointed  night  was  come  he  not  only  gathered  us  all 
up  in  conveyances  and  transported  us  to  his  beautiful 
home  in  the  Rock  Ridge  district,  but  also  spread  out  be- 
fore us  a  most  elaborate  and  enticing  banquet. 

You  should  have  been  there  ! 

All  stood  for  the  moment  transfixed,  but  none  repined. 
No  guest  declined  the  dainty  enticements, — and  no  subse- 
quent host  ever  reverted  back  to  the  cold  ration.  Later 
on,  as  you  know,  there  came  in  a  different  system  of  feed- 
ing. 

In  passing,  it  may  be  a  point  of  interest  to  state  that  the 
only  trouble  or  serious  approach  to  trouble  that  the  Ber- 
keley Club  has  ever  experienced  in  all  its  history  of  thirty- 
six  years  has  been  in  connection  with  this  question  of 
caterage.  The  various  expedients  resorted  to,  and  the 
various  failures  experienced  therefrom,  could  they  be 
adequately  set  forth,  would  form  an  interesting  and  some- 
what educative  chapter ;  good  for  incipient  clubs  to  study. 
Suffice  to  say  that  at  one  time,  when  all  other  expedients 
seemed  to  have  been  resorted  to,  recourse  was  had  to  the 
plan  of  the  members  dining  at  home  and  gathering  later 
for  paper  and  discussion.  The  result  scarcely  needs  re- 
port. Five  meetings  saw  our  attendance  decimated;  five 
more  would  have  seen  it  sublimated  and  the  Berkeley 
Club  gone  up  in  smoke.    We  demonstrated  to  our  hearts' 


content  the  fact  that  no  association  of  a  stated  nature, 
however  high  its  aims,  and  even  though  it  may  have  been 
instituted  as  was  ours  for  the  consideration  of  high 
themes,  —  themes  of  greatest  interest,  literary,  social, 
scientific,  philosophic,  as  well  as  practical, — can  without 
the  adjunct  of  good  table  fare  and  good  table  talk  be 
long  kept  alive.  Heart  and  stomach  were  centuries  ago 
diagnosed  as  being  closely  related  to  each  other.  Our 
experience  seemed  to  develop  the  fact  that  the  affinity 
between  brain  and  stomach  is  quite  as  real  and  quite  as 
intimate. 

But  to  come  more  closely  to  the  heart  of  our  purpose. 
As  already  stated,  Dr.  Gilman  arrived  in  California  and 
at  the  University  in  November,  1872.  During  the  follow- 
ing January  he  invited  two  or  three  individuals  to  his 
dinner  table,  for  the  discussion  with  him  of  the  desir- 
ability and  practicability  of  a  club,  such  as  this  has  grown 
to  be.  On  February  sixth  the  same  persons,  together 
with  four  others,  again  met  at  President  Gilman's  table ; 
and  then  and  there  an  organization  was  agreed  upon,  and 
the  name,  "Berkeley,"  suggested  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Benton, 
was  adopted.  Several  other  members  were  elected  at  this 
meeting;  who,  with  two  a  little  later  added,  making 
seventeen  in  all,  became  the  Club's  charter  members. 

I  grieve  to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  present 
reader,  none  of  that  charter  group  survive.  They  walk 
in  other  paths;  they  feed  on  other  food.  With  the  de- 
parture of  that  sixteen  went  a  marvelous  amount  of 
worth,  knowledge,  wisdom,  and  kindliness,  transferred 
from  this  to  the  upper  world.  I  cannot  refrain  from  ex- 
pressing to  you  the  pensiveness  (to  use  no  stronger  term), 
which  like  a  dark  shadow  has  followed  me  these  few  days 
past,  in  which  my  attention  has  been  led  forward  to  this 


memorial  evening.  They  have  been  passing  before  me, 
those  men,  the  sixteen,  men  with  whom  it  was  such  great 
good  fortune  to  be  associated  in  devising  this  conclave,  in 
enjoying  it  together  for  a  while,  and  making  possible  its 
long  count  of  gatherings  and  its  pleasant  history.  I  have 
been  seeing  them  again  as  I  used  to  see  them.  I  can 
almost  see  them  now ;  and  have  been  stirred  by  them  as  I 
used  to  be  stirred.  A  noble  group :  Durant,  Kellogg,  the 
two  Le  Contes,  Hamilton,  Sill,  Benton,  Mooar,  Bartlett, 
Palmer.  How  their  faces  lighted  up  the  place  in  which 
we  met,  dingy  enough  though  it  otherwise  might  be. 
How  their  forms  lent  dignity,  their  words  loftiness ;  how 
their  humor  spread  as  incense  spicing  the  air,  their  pro- 
found thought  and  earnest  words  making  the  place  at 
times  a  hallowed  spot.  They  have  gone;  I  only  am  left 
to  tell  the  tale. 

And  not  only  that  sixteen  have  gone.  I  find  that  out 
of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  names  enrolled  in  our 
membership  book  at  least  twice  sixteen  other  names  are 
starred.  These  last,  of  full  kith  and  kin  with  their  pre- 
decessors, were  equally  gifted,  equally  estimable  and 
worthy  of  being  equally  mourned  for,  now  that  they  are 
gone.  Under  such  contemplation,  it  is  easy  to  fall  into 
the  mood  of  Tom  Moore's  plaint : 

When  I  remember  all 

The  friends  so  linked  together 
I've  seen  around  me  fall 
Like  leaves  in  wintry  weather, 

I  feel  like  one 

Who  treads  alone 
Some  banquet  hall  deserted, 

Whose  lights  are  fled, 

Whose  garlands  dead, 
And  all  but  he  departed ! 


This  shadow,  however,  is  but  upon  the  one  hand ;  upon 
the  other  hand  is  light ;  for  here,  as  in  the  good  providence 
of  God  our  whole  earth  over,  when  the  one  side  is  in 
darkness  the  other  abides  in  light,  the  area  of  the  latter 
being  ever  wider  than  that  of  the  former  Braced  by 
such  assurance  one  turns  back  to  comrades  still  abiding, 
with  heart  of  gratitude  for  the  greetings  of  a  night  like 
this  and  for  the  unclouded  gatherings  which  have  pre- 
ceded it.  Full  of  hope  also — so  far  as  concerns  most  of 
us — for  many  an  unbroken  evening  yet  to  come. 

A  final  word  as  to  Dr.  Gilman's  connection  with  the 
Gub.  Notwithstanding  the  seventeen  charter  members, 
sixteen  beside  himself,  the  entire  credit  of  creating  the 
Berkeley  Club  and  of  maintaining  it  during  its  infancy 
is  due  to  Dr.  Gilman  alone.  Without  his  initiative  it 
could  never  have  come  into  existence ;  without  his 
fostering  care  it  could  never  have  become  a  permanency. 
The  history  of  the  Club  illustrates  what  appears  to  me 
one  of  President  Gilman's  strongest  points.  He  pos- 
sessed in  greater  degree  than  any  other  man  with  whom 
I  have  ever  been  associated  a  keen  practical,  per- 
ceptive and  creative  power.  I  do  not  mean  merely  as  to 
ordinary  matters  upon  the  one  hand  or  as  to  theories, 
conclusions,  abstractions,  and  all  that  upon  the  other,  but 
he  was  endowed  with  an  extraordinarily  sharp,  quick  and 
unerring  discernment,  first  of  measures  and  men,  and  next 
of  ways  and  means ;  not  merely  as  to  things  in  themselves, 
nor  yet  as  to  their  latent  values;  he  had  all  that,  and 
more.  With  it  was  allied  the  more  fruitful  sense  of 
how  to  extract  those  values ;  and  how,  once  extracted,  to 
set  them  into  active  productiveness.  He  seemed  to  grasp 
the  whole  at  once,  at  a  glance: — the  metal  in  the  rock, 
the  particular  method  of  extracting  that  special  grade 

8 


or  class  of  metal,  of  handling  it  when  extracted,  with 
also  the  ability  to  set  in  motion  the  required  means 
to  bring  out  a  final,  finished  product;  and  not  stopping 
there,  but  also  to  set  the  tide  of  this  final  product  at 
earning  its  own  daily  bread. 

The  grand  incitement  with  him  to  the  creation  of  the 
Club  at  the  time  this  was  founded  lay  not  at  all  in  pur- 
poses of  mere  entertainment,  good  fellowship,  relaxation, 
nor  merely  as  place  and  medium  for  the  exchange  of 
ideas  and  the  elucidation  of  great  themes  and  thoughts. 
He  wanted  it  just  then  for  a  far  more  concrete  purpose ; 
and  to  those  who  stood  nearest  him  he  made  no  secret  of 
this  fact.  He  wanted  it  as  an  implement,  an  engine,  an 
apparatus,  of  which  he  stood  at  that  particular  time  in 
great  need.  As  Dr.  Carey  Jones  in  effect  so  well  said, 
though  put  in  another  way,  in  his  Memorial  Address  last 
October:  After  some  summer  days  of  placid  waters  and 
favoring  breezes,  during  which  the  master  of  the  craft 
was  taking  inventory,  making  soundings,  and  ordering 
adjustments  in  general,  clouds  appeared  upon  the  hori- 
zon; little  at  first,  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand,  then 
rearing  up  somewhat  as  mountains  do.  Cross  winds  be- 
gan to  blow,  shoals  appeared  and  rocks ;  white-caps  took 
the  place  of  ripples.  In  a  word,  it  ceased  to  be  clear  sail- 
ing. Conditions  arose,  unexpected,  perplexing,  and  to 
which  Dr.  Gilman  was  utterly  a  stranger.  He  found 
himself  cruising  in  what  to  him  was  an  unknown  sea. 
He  must  reach  out  in  some  direction  for  counsel,  informa- 
tion, advice,  backing.     Storm  seemed  imminent. 

He  looked  about  him  and  gathered  up,  or  rather,  pro- 
cured others  to  gather  for  him, — for  Dr.  Gilman,  as  a 
skilled  workman,  was  wisely  cognizant  of  the  maxim,  "It 
is  better  to  set  ten  men  to  work  than  yourself  to  do  the 


work  of  ten," — he  gathered  a  body  representing  the  sev- 
eral professions  and  occupying,  so  far  as  he  could  reach, 
all  cardinal  points  of  mental  view.  Thus,  partly  through 
subjects  selected  for  Club  discussion  and  partly  through 
association  with  individuals,  he  gathered  ballast  for  his 
cruise.  That  was  all  he  asked.  He  could  be  captain  and 
steersman;  given,  to  know  the  waters  he  was  sailing 
through,  and  with  the  backing  of  friendly  companionship 
he  could  master  all  else :  and  he  did.  In  every  reference 
to  that  period  of  his  experience  he  has  uniformly,  in 
speech  or  letter,  as  no  doubt  to  others  beside  myself, 
spoken  in  warm  appreciation  of  the  succor  received  at  a 
time  of  need  through  the  Berkeley  Club. 

In  speaking  thus,  do  not  understand  me  as  intimating 
that  Dr.  Gilman's  chief  motive  in  founding  the  Berkeley 
Club  was  that  he  might  work  it  and  us  as  its  members 
to  his  personal  advantage.  Not  that  at  all.  He  at  every 
step  took  good  care  to  return  a  full  quid  pro  quo;  giving 
invariably  more  than  he  received.  In  this  instance,  as 
through  all  his  life,  genuine  altruism  governed  him 
greatly  beyond  any  suspicion  of  self-seeking. 

I  say  that  this  faculty  of  which  I  have  been  speaking, 
that  of  practical  discernment  of  men  and  things,  accom- 
panied by  ability  to  turn  the  things  and  the  people  dis- 
cerned to  their  own  best  ends  and  to  the  best  ends  of  the 
world  at  large,  was  one  of  Dr.  Gilman's  chief  endow- 
ments. It  was  one  main  source  of  his  great  and  greatly 
varied  successes.  I  say  successes  in  the  plural,  for  Dr. 
Gilman's  high  service  was  extremely  varied.  It  reached 
out  in  many  directions  and  followed  many  lines,  along 
all  of  which  he  won  credit  and  distinction.  For  high 
service  he  was  ten  different  times  decorated  with  the  de- 
gree of  LL.D.,  and  he  is  credited  in  the  list  of  his  achieve- 

10 


ments  with  having  filled  something  like  twenty  public 
positions,  and  always  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  con- 
cerned with  him. 


Professor  George  C.  Edwards  as  an  undergraduate 
('73)>  during  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Gilman  was  asked  to 
speak  of  his  former  chief  from  the  standpoint  of  that 
relation.    He  responded  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman,  and  Members  of  the  Berkeley  Club  : 

I  have  been  asked  to  say  something  of  President  Gil- 
man  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  undergraduate.  As 
has  already  been  said,  the  University  was  located  in  Oak- 
land awaiting  the  time  when  it  could  be  installed  on  its 
present  site,  opposite  the  Golden  Gate. 

When  President  Gilman  appeared  on  the  little  campus 
in  Oakland  his  physical  characteristics  stimulated  the  first 
comments  of  the  undergraduate.  One  said  to  another: 
"He  doesn't  look  like  a  college  man,  his  hair  is  cut  close, 
his  chin  is  clean  shaven,  he  wears  a  cutaway  coat  of  the 
latest  pattern.  His  pants  bear  evidence  of  having  been 
recently  returned  from  the  renovator,  and  his  shoes  are 
blackened." 

Another  said:  "He  looks  like  a  prosperous  business 
man."  Another  said:  "I'll  bet  Gillie  can  run  a  good 
hundred."  He  was  a  beautifully  built  man,  a  well  nigh 
perfect  specimen  of  the  150-pound  man.  There  was  none 
of  the  stooping  shoulder  or  pinched  countenance,  or  halt- 
ing step.  His  walk,  quick  and  springy,  was  that  of  a  man 
who  knew  where  he  was  going  and  what  he  was  going 
for.  His  walk  was  not  the  quick,  jerky  step  of  the 
egotist.     A  quick  movement  of  the  lower  lip  and  the 

11 


Professor 
George  C. 
Edwards 


restlessness  of  the  dark  eyes  indicated  an  alertness  not 
usual  in  the  college  man. 

His  coming  produced  an  immediate  effect  upon  the 
college  community  and  upon  the  public.  There  was  a 
contagious  enthusiasm  about  the  man.  Courses  of  lectures 
were  established  in  Oakland,  in  San  Francisco,  in  Sacra- 
mento, and  in  San  Jose.  Articles  appeared  in  the  daily 
press  and  in  the  Overland  Monthly.  Dr.  Merritt  of  Oak- 
land, a  member  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  became  ex- 
tremely active  in  the  affairs  of  the  University — as  it 
turned  out,  too  active  for  his  own  peace  and  comfort. 
The  University  needed  money.  The  Doctor  knew  that  "a 
dollar  saved  is  two  dollars  earned,"  and  as  he  was  in  the 
lumber  business,  and  an  architect  of  no  mean  ability,  he 
drew  the  plans  and  specifications  for  the  construction  of 
North  Hall  (then  called  the  College  of  Letters  Building), 
had  his  own  contractors  bid  on  the  construction  of  the 
building,  and  himself  selected  the  lumber  and  sold  it  to 
the  Regents.  It  was  an  ill  advised  procedure,  and  caused 
the  Doctor  no  end  of  trouble  in  the  way  of  legislative 
investigation,  etc.  But  the  University  got  a  building  for 
$90,000,  which,  if  contracted  for  and  built  in  the  ordinary 
way,  would  have  cost  the  University  $120,000. 

Through  President  Gilman,  Edward  Tompkins  pre- 
sented the  University  with  50  acres  of  land  (on  the  ex- 
tension of  Broadway)  which  was  the  foundation  of  the 
Chair  of  Oriental  Languages  and  Literature,  now  in  full 
operation. 

Through  the  exertions  of  President  Gilman,  funds  were 
contributed  that  purchased  the  Lieber  Library  for  the 
University.  By  him  Michael  Reese  became  interested  in 
the  institution,  and  as  a  direct  result  $50,000  came  to  the 
University.    The  original  sum  has  very  wisely  been  kept 

12 


intact,  and  the  interest  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  books. 
A  few  days  ago  I  saw  the  statement  in  the  College  paper 
that  with  the  income  from  that  fund  $67,000  worth  of 
books  had  been  bought. 

The  interest  in  the  undergraduates  was  manifested  in 
one  way  by  the  raising  of  a  fund  which  has  provided  the 
University  Medal  that  annually  goes  to  the  most  dis- 
tinguished scholar  of  the  year. 

This  Club  is  one  of  the  evidences  of  his  great  and  active 
interest. 

My  class  C73),  the  first  class  to  take  the  full  four 
years'  course  in  the  University,  was  nearing  the  end  of  its 
junior  year  when  President  Gilman  came.  During  our 
senior  year  we  had  two  courses  with  him.  His  interest 
lay  particularly  in  humanity.  It  was  men  and  their  rela- 
tions to  each  other  rather  than  things  that  attracted  him. 
As  social  beings  men  aggregate  themselves  into  small 
committees,  these  into  states,  states  into  nations,  and 
nations  into  the  family  of  the  world.  And  so  it  was  that 
political  economy  was  one  of  the  subjects  that  particularly 
attracted  him,  and  was  one  of  the  subjects  in  which  he 
was  the  instructor  of  our  class. 

Man  lives  upon  the  Earth,  and  is  influenced  in  his 
activities  by  terrestrial  configurations.  Physical  Geo- 
graphy, then,  attracted  him  and  was  the  other  subject  in 
which  he  was  our  instructor. 

The  recitations  and  lectures  were  held  in  the  library, 
the  class  seated  about  a  long  table  at  the  head  of  which 
the  instructor  sat.  The  library  was  then  on  the  top  floor 
of  Brayton  Hall,  the  old  building  which  to-day  stands 
on  the  northeast  corner  of  Twelfth  and  Webster  Streets 
in  Oakland.  The  class  had  sessions  also  at  his  house, 
where  numerous  maps,  photographs,  etchings  and  draw- 
ings were  produced  as  a  means  of  instruction. 

13 


He  was  an  instructor  of  the  modern  type;  one  who 
led,  rather  than  drove ;  one  who  invited  and  encouraged. 

There  were  certain  words  and  certain  gestures  that 
were  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  which  served  to  show 
the  character  and  the  habit  of  thought.  The  words  co- 
operate and  felicitate  seemed  to  be  a  part  of  the  person- 
ality. His  gestures  were  three  in  number:  one  in  which 
both  hands  were  raised  and  extended  to  the  front,  palms 
turned  nearly  down,  with  a  gathering  in  motion  that  was 
used  so  many  times  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  word 
co-operate.  Another  was  with  hands  brought  near  to- 
gether, with  the  palms  turned  down  and  out,  and  moved 
as  though  parting  the  veil  in  order  to  look  into  the 
future.  The  other  gesture  was  with  the  right  hand  ex- 
tended well  to  the  front,  palm  down  and  fingers  bent  as 
though  attempting  to  grasp  that  which  lay  behind  the 
veil. 

Dr.  Gilman's  pathway  was  strewn  with  roses,  but 
they  were  roses  that  had  thorns  on  their  stems.  He  did 
not  have  the  support  of  his  faculty  that  enables  a  man 
to  do  his  best  work.  Other  Presidents  have  lacked 
faculty  support.  In  fact  it  is  a  condition  so  common  that 
it  may  almost  be  said  to  be  the  rule.  I  think  it  is  William 
Allen  White,  who,  in  commenting  upon  that  particular 
phase  of  life,  remarks  that  "academics  are  always  against 
the  government,"  and  accounts  for  it  by  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  their  work  is  mainly  given  over  to  criti- 
cism, and  a  habit  of  antagonistic  attitude  is  built  up. 

Legislative  investigations  over  the  building  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Letters  (North  Hall)  ;  newspaper  attacks,  par- 
ticularly by  the  San  Francisco  Post,  and  an  attitude  of 
unfriendliness  on  the  part  of  certain  individuals  who  had 
access  to  the  public  prints,  put  upon  him  a  burden  that 

14 


was  more  irritating  than  weighty.  A  strong  character 
always  meets  opposition  and  even  revilement. 

The  call  came  to  go  to  Baltimore  and  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  erect  it  into  the 
foremost  institution  of  learning  in  this  country,  and  pre- 
side over  it  for  many  years.  I  remember  that  once  when 
I  called  on  him  in  Baltimore  and  the  conversation  turned 
upon  his  experience  in  California,  he  said  to  me :  "What- 
ever of  success  I  have  met  with  here  in  Baltimore  has 
been  due  to  my  being  able  to  carry  out  those  principles 
which  I  clearly  saw  when  I  was  in  California." 

Perhaps  I  had  a  contact  with  President  Gilman  that 
was  a  little  closer  than  that  had  by  the  other  young  men 
of  the  University.  Beside  being  in  his  classes  in  Political 
Economy  and  Physical  Geography,  I  happened  to  be  the 
editor  of  the  college  paper.  As  such  I  felt  called  upon  to 
regulate  the  affairs  of  the  universe  and  those  of  the  Uni- 
versity in  particular.  As  the  result  of  a  certain  editorial 
I  had  a  very  interesting  hour  and  a  half  in  the  office  of 
the  president.  Regret  and  kindly  advice  took  the  place 
of  anger  and  resentment.  Later  I  was  chairman  of  the 
student  committee  that  raised  the  money  for  and  caused 
to  be  painted  the  portraits  of  Presidents  Durant  and  Gil- 
man,  which  portraits  are  hanging  in  the  library  of  the 
University.  Upon  my  graduation  I  became  a  member  of 
the  faculty  as  an  instructor  in  mathematics  and  com- 
mandant of  cadets.  After  undertaking  his  work  in  Bal- 
timore he  married  a  distant  relation  of  mine.  Please 
pardon  the  mentioning  of  these  personal  matters,  but 
they  are  a  part  of  my  picture  of  the  times  and  the  man. 

President  Gilman  was  not  a  profound  scholar  in  the 
sense  in  which  that  term  is  ordinarily  used,  but  he  was  a 
man  of  great  erudition,  of  broad  culture,  and  of  very 
considerable  literary  ability. 

15 


When  Daniel  Coit  Gilman  passed  over  to  the  majority 
this  country  lost  its  greatest  educator.  I  say  that  ad- 
visedly. He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale,  had  done  post- 
graduate work  abroad;  had  been  the  librarian  of  Yale, 
a  professor  in  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  president 
of  the  University  of  California,  the  shaper  and  executive 
officer  of  Johns  Hopkins ;  he  caused  to  be  brought  from 
Europe  great  scholars  and  investigators ;  he  knew  the  line 
of  work  every  professor  and  instructor  was  engaged  in, 
and  it  might  be  fairly  said  that  he  knew  the  aims  and 
ambitions  of  every  student  in  the  institution  over  which 
he  presided. 

His  life  was  an  inspiration  to  young  men,  the  force 
and  effect  of  which  will  endure  for  many  a  day.  He  was 
a  bearer  aloft  of  the  torch  of  learning  and  the  standard 
of  liberty,  that  learning  which  is  not  dogmatism  and  that 
liberty  which  is  not  license.  Peace  to  his  ashes.  We  are 
glad  we  have  the  memory. 


Professor  Frank  Soule  was  a  member  of  the  Faculty 
when  Mr.  Gilman  was  called  to  the  headship  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Berkeley  Club  : 

Professor  I  feel  that  an  honor  has  been  conferred  upon  me  as 

Frank  Soule  a   guest   of   the    Club   by   this   invitation   to   say   a   few 

words  to  the  memory  of  the  late  President  Gilman, 
whom  I  knew  very  well  and  of  whom  I  cherish  a  pleas- 
ant recollection. 

President  Gilman  came  to  the  University  of  California 
in  1872.  The  University  was  temporarily  established  in 
Oakland  at  that  time.    I  was  a  little  surprised  in  meeting 

16 


such  a  comparatively  young  man,  he  being  at  that  time 
only  forty-one  years  of  age;  but  manifestly  he  was  full 
of  energy,  wisdom,  ambition  and  the  experience  gained, 
not  only  as  a  student,  graduate  and  teacher  in  the  halls 
of  old  Yale,  but  as  a  thoughtful  traveler  and  observer, 
and  a  member  of  one  of  our  embassies  in  Europe. 

During  all  his  previous  life  at  home  or  abroad  he  had 
been  an  earnest  and  diligent  student  of  educational 
methods  and  systems;  and  had  acquired  such  a  broad 
and  liberal  view  of  the  entire  problem  of  education  in 
America,  evidenced  by  his  numerous  publications  upon 
this  topic,  that  he  was  fully  prepared,  ready  and  eager 
to  establish  the  policy  of  the  University  upon  the 
widest  basis  of  activity  in  systematized  learning  and  in- 
vestigation, whether  philosophical,  literary,  scientific,  or 
technical. 

I  have  said  that  he  was  ambitious;  and  he  was,  but 
not  in  a  personal,  self-seeking  sense.  His  sole  ambition, 
to  which  he  devoted  himself  night  and  day  with  all  his 
great  enthusiasm,  was  to  develop  an  ideal,  a  great  uni- 
versity, resting  upon  the  highest  and  most  useful  plane. 
He  was  indefatigable,  never  sparing  himself  in  setting 
the  tasks  designed  for  the  advancement  of  the  institu- 
tion committed  to  his  care.  He  was  a  very  affable  man 
and  most  pleasantly  approachable  to  faculty  and  students 
alike ;  and  displayed  a  rare  tact  in  all  his  intercourse.  He 
sought  to  be  intimately  friendly  with  all,  and  to  assist 
and  help  forward  every  wise  and  approved  activity. 
Very  early  in  his  days  as  president  he  organized  the 
administration  of  the  University  library,  and  secured  for 
it  a  home  and  support.  He  encouraged  the  members  of 
the  Faculty  and  of  the  student  body  to  publish  the  results 
of  their  work  and  research.    He  strove  to  attract  and  win 

17 


for  the  University  the  friendship  and  interest  of  the 
public;  as,  for  example,  by  initiating  a  system  of  public 
free  lectures  upon  all  popular  academic  subjects.  He 
caused  to  be  built  what  were  known  as  the  students'  cot- 
tages upon  the  University  grounds,  designed  to  furnish 
dormitories  in  the  small  and  isolated  town  of  Berkeley. 
He  also  labored  diligently  in  the  outside  world,  in  social 
circles,  with  the  Board  of  Regents,  and  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,  to  make  them  clearly  comprehend  the  aim 
and  ideals  of  a  great  university,  and  to  instill  in  them 
the  idea  of  the  duty  of  all  to  loyally  and  generously 
support  the  institution. 

He  was  somtimes  criticized  for  the  great  number  of  his 
social  engagements;  but  while  thoroughly  enjoying  the 
society  of  his  fellow  men,  he  was  always  devotedly  work- 
ing to  the  same  end — the  benefit  to  accrue  to  the  higher 
education. 

The  Michael  Reese  gift  to  the  library,  the  Bacon  Art 
Gallery,  the  Mills  Chair  of  Philosophy  and  Civil  Polity, 
and  many  other  public  or  private  benefactions  were  the 
fruit,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  the  seed  sown  by  him. 

He  was  the  first  man  to  propose  the  organization  of 
this  Club,  and  was  its  founder;  and  the  Berkeley  Club, 
dedicated  to  the  free  discussion  of  all  important  and 
living  topics,  was  always  an  object  of  his  pride  and 
affection.  During  his  residence  at  the  University  he 
was  one  of  its  most  enthusiastic  attendants  and  supporters. 

While  his  studies  had  been  directed  in  his  youth  toward 
literature  and  the  humanities  generally,  we  soon  found 
that  while  loving  culture  as  we  naturally  would  suppose  a 
man  of  his  refined  fiber  would  do,  nevertheless,  he  was 
too  broad  in  his  sympathies  to  unfairly  favor  that  side 
of  the  University;  he  always  seemed  to  be  as  eager  to 

18 


assist  and  advance  the  course,  let  us  say,  of  civil  en- 
gineering, for  example,  as  that  of  the  classics  or  of 
English  literature.  He  desired  to  develop  all  courses, 
and  the  University  as  a  whole,  in  every  worthy  direction. 

As  a  disciplinarian,  his  idea  seemed  to  be  to  convince 
and  persuade  to  the  correct  view,  to  guide  and  lead  rather 
than  to  drive  and  compel.  He  sought  to  make  students, 
Faculty  and  Regents  his  friends;  and  was  always  ready 
to  advise  and  sympathize.  I  well  remember  the  only 
disciplinary  regulation  that  was  published  in  the  first 
issue  of  the  University  rules.  It  was  to  this  effect: 
"Every  student  is  regarded  as  a  gentleman,  and  will  be 
treated  accordingly." 

He  was  a  genial,  lovable  man,  disliking  extremely  all 
bitter  controversy  and  demagogical  opposition.  In  the 
case  of  his  dropping  two  of  the  professors  of  the  Faculty 
of  that  day,  I  feel  that  he  was  entirely  in  the  right.  One 
of  them  was  notoriously  inefficient  and  incompetent,  as 
well  as  publicly  abusive.  The  other  was  able,  but  fac- 
tiously  in  opposition  in  all  things;  and  both  were  acridly 
disloyal  to  the  the  University  and  its  ideals.  The  final 
result  of  their  dismissal  was  harmony  and  co-operation 
in  the  life  of  his  Faculty,  and  fully  justified  his  action 
in  this  affair. 

If  I  were  to  pass  any  adverse,  though  friendly,  criticism 
upon  President  Gilman  and  his  administration  of  our 
University,  I  would  say  that  while  wonderfully  tactful 
and  diplomatic  in  his  methods,  he  relied  too  much  upon 
the  latter  means,  in  serious  cases  requiring  heroic  treat- 
ment ;  and  that  just  a  little  more  of  the  Rooseveltian  spirit 
in  him  would  have  made  him  more  celebrated  in  the 
educational  world.  But  such  was  not  his  nature.  He  was 
refined,  gentle,  and  amiable  to  a  degree,  so  that  a  strenu- 

19 


ous  dispute  of  any  kind  was  very  distasteful  to  him  and 
to  be  avoided  if  practicable.  Therefore,  from  the  first, 
I  always  have  believed  that  it  was  with  commingled  feel- 
ings of  regret,  hope,  and  exultation  that  he  left  us ;  regret 
in  leaving  the  new  and  fertile  educational  field  upon  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  that,  in  his  brief  three  years  of  stay 
he  had  cultivated  with  such  ardor,  in  which  he  had  planted 
so  many  fruitful  ideas  that  still  bud  and  bear;  and  with 
hope  and  exultation  in  the  thought  of  building  at  Balti- 
more, free  from  factious  criticism,  a  University  for  col- 
leges, as  he  expressed  it — an  institution  for  the  education 
of  professors  for  all  faculties  throughout  America;  and, 
as  he  might  have  expressed  it,  of  putting  the  cap-stone 
upon  our  Temple  to  the  Highest  Education. 

This  latter  was  his  lifelong,  his  greatest  effort  and 
ambition.  How  well  he  fulfilled  it,  the  history  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University  relates. 

In  the  story  of  the  evolution  of  higher  education  in  the 
United  States,  I  believe  that  the  name  of  Daniel  Coit 
Gilman  will  always  retain  a  conspicuous  place. 


Samuel  B.  Christy,  class  '74,  Professor  of  Mining  and 
Metallurgy,  spoke  of  the  permanent  influence  of  Mr. 
Gilman  upon  the  students  and  of  his  qualities  of  leader- 
ship, as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Berkeley  Club  : 

Professor  The  continued  success  of  this  Club  for  thirty-six  years 

Samuel  B.  Christyis  a  striking  proof  of  the  truth  of  my  theme— the  good 

President  Gilman  did,  lives  after  him. 

In  founding  this  Club,  as  your  Chairman  has  pointed 

out,  President  Gilman  had  a  double  purpose:    First,  he 

20 


wished  to  establish  a  Western  forum,  where  men  of  the 
most  diverse  opinions  and  training  might  discuss  the 
burning  questions  of  the  hour  in  all  freedom  and  frank- 
ness. He  knew  that  truth  always  prospers  when  men 
of  serious  mind  can  talk  freely  and  frankly  together,  and 
that,  even  when  they  cannot  wholly  agree,  they  become 
bound  more  and  more  with  the  social  bonds  of  fellow- 
ship, sympathy,  and  mutual  respect.  He  knew  that  in 
such  gatherings  public  problems  are  gradually  worked 
out,  and  public  opinion  is  safely  and  surely  formed.  His 
second  purpose  was  to  secure  for  the  infant  University 
a  loyal  and  disinterested  body  of  devoted  friends.  How 
well  he  succeeded  in  both  these  objects,  the  devoted  lives 
of  those  who  have  passed  away,  and  the  living  interest  of 
those  who  remain,  are  a  sufficient  proof. 

It  is  good  for  the  living  to  praise  the  dead,  but  it  is 
difficult  for  us  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  blood  to  praise  the 
living.  Some  awkward  self-consciousness,  some  fear  of 
being  thought  self-seekers  ties  our  tongues,  and  we  with- 
hold the  helpful  word  from  the  brave  man  fighting  for 
us — until  he  is  dead.  Now  that  our  praise  cannot  help 
him,  our  tongues  are  loosed,  and  we  can  speak  from 
our  hearts.  It  is  well  to  do  this,  even  though  it  is  late; 
for  the  feeling  that  we  do  appreciate  the  services  of  the 
dead  strengthens  the  hands  of  the  living  to  still  carry 
on  the  fight.  It  makes  them  feel  that  some  day  they 
will  come  into  their  own,  and  will  be  appreciated  and 
understood. 

I  never  felt  this  sense  of  our  cruel  dumbness  in  the 
presence  of  the  living  more  keenly  than  when,  on  another 
occasion,  I  had  finished  a  memorial  notice  of  our  late 
Professor  Joseph  Le  Conte.  As  I  finished  the  story 
of  his  interesting  and  useful  life  for  the  American  In- 

21 


stitute  of  Mining  Engineers,  of  which  we  were  both 
members,  I  was  for  the  first  time  overwhelmed  with  the 
sense  of  how  entirely  my  views  of  the  aims  and  purposes 
of  life  had  been  colored  by  his  teachings;  and  I  bitterly 
regretted  that  I  had  not  expressed  to  him  my  gratitude 
while  he  was  living. 

And  then,  as  my  mind  ran  over  the  past,  I  realized  how 
largely  my  own  ideals  of  what  this  University  might 
and  should  be  had  been  due  to  President  Gilman;  and  I 
sat  down  and  wrote  him  a  brief  expression  of  my  realiza- 
tion of  the  work  he  had  done  for  California,  just  as  he 
was  laying  down  his  work  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity. And  glad  I  am  now  that  I  did  not  wait  until 
he  was  dead! 

It  was  indeed  fortunate  that  Dr.  Gilman  came  to  Cali- 
fornia ;  fortunate  that  he  came  in  the  first  vigor  of  early 
manhood,  with  his  life-work  before  and  not  behind  him ; 
fortunate  that  he  came  with  the  varied  experience  of 
university  life  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America ;  fortunate 
that  he  came  just  when  he  did,  at  the  critical  period  of 
California  history.  It  was  fortunate  that  he  was  able 
to  rear  the  foundations  of  a  great  modern  University  on 
what  might  have  grown  into  a  collection  of  useful  but 
mediocre  trade-schools.  No  one  can  appreciate  the  work 
he  did  in  those  three  years  who  did  not  watch  the  brave 
fight  he  made  for  the  permanent  interests  of  California. 
Those  were  days  best  recalled,  now  that  they  have  passed, 
by  one  of  his  sayings  at  the  time:  "The  people  of  Cali- 
fornia are  so  anxious  to  see  their  University  grow  that 
they  want  to  dig  it  up  by  the  roots  every  day  to  see  how 
much  it  has  grown  over  night." 

It  has  often  been  stated  that  President  Gilman  was 
driven  from  California  by  newspaper  attacks.    It  is  true 

22 


that  there  were  bitter  newspaper  attacks  upon  him  as 
there  always  are  upon  those  who  attempt  to  accomplish 
anything  in  our  country.  But  he  had  made  his  fight — the 
fight  of  the  all-embracing  idea  of  the  modern  American 
university  as  against  the  narrow  idea  of  the  mere  trade- 
school;  and  he  had  made  it  for  all  time.  But,  unfortu- 
nately for  California,  just  at  this  moment  the  presidency 
of  Johns  Hopkins,  which  had  just  received  a  $7,000,000 
bequest,  was  offered  him.  He  was  still  sore  with  the 
strife,  and  the  prospect  of  an  untrammeled  opportunity 
to  carry  out  his  ideas  was  what  cost  us  this  great 
organizer. 

President  Gilman  had  every  quality  of  a  great  leader 
except  one ;  his  fine  nature  shrank  too  much  from  contest. 
And  I  believe  he  made  a  great  mistake  when  he  left 
California  for  Baltimore.  If  he  had  remained,  the  educa- 
tional history  not  only  of  California  but  of  America 
would  have  been  very  different.  Stanford  University 
would  never  have  been  founded  as  a  separate  institution ; 
and  instead  of  having  two  universities  in  California, 
largely  duplicating  each  other's  undergraduate  work,  he 
would  have  built  up  a  single  institution  greater  than  either 
could  have  been  alone.  Upon  a  broad  and  strong  under- 
graduate school  he  would  have  constructed  with  the 
united  means  at  his  disposal  a  strong  graduate  school 
that  would  have  made  California  a  Mecca  for  real  scholars 
the  world  over. 

The  wonderful  tact  of  President  Gilman  has  been  re- 
ferred to  by  every  speaker;  and  next  to  his  organizing 
mind,  it  was  his  most  striking  characteristic,  I  never 
knew  anyone  who  surpassed  him  in  this  faculty.  His 
was  "the  tact  that  clinches  the  bargain,  sails  out  of  the 
bay,  wins  the  vote  in  the  Senate,  spite  of  Webster  or 

23 


Clay."  This  remarkable  tact  was  made  possible  by  his 
sensitive  nature,  his  vivid  imagination,  his  kindly  human 
sympathy,  and  his  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  he 
stood  for. 

His  warm  human  feeling  and  keen  insight  led  him  to 
discover  common  interests  among  people  in  whom  the 
casual  observer  could  discover  nothing  but  differences. 
He  knew  how  to  bring  such  people  together  at  delightful 
informal  dinners  and  impromptu  breakfasts ;  and  by  tact- 
ful emphasis  on  those  common  interests  would  weld  the 
most  inharmonious  elements  into  loyal  supporters  of  the 
cause  he  had  at  heart.  There  never  lived  a  kinder  and 
more  helpful  friend  than  Daniel  Coit  Gilman.  He  was  a 
keen  judge  of  character,  and  delighted  to  discover  in 
young  men  latent  capacities  often  unknown  to  them- 
selves, and  it  gave  him  the  keenest  pleasure  to  put  stimu- 
lating opportunities  in  their  way,  and  then  stand  aside 
and  watch  them  grow.  The  story  of  the  useful  lives  thus 
stimulated  by  his  influence  in  all  parts  of  our  country  is 
another  proof  that  the  good  he  did  lives  after  him. 

His  influence  upon  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men 
can  be  explained  only  by  the  stimulating  influence  of  his 
creative  imagination,  and  by  his  kindly,  cheerful,  and 
sympathetic  nature.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  late 
Michael  Reese  left  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the  University 
library.  It  is  not  so  generally  known  that  in  the  original 
will  the  bequest  was  five  hundred  thousand  dollars;  and 
that  when  Dr.  Gilman  left  for  Baltimore  the  donor  re- 
duced the  gift  to  one  tenth  of  the  original  sum. 

No  college  president  ever  sank  his  own  personality  so 
utterly  in  the  cause  he  loved.  This  was  his  greatest 
strength,  for  his  unselfish  example  helped  others  to  be- 
come unselfish.     Many  of  the  best  gifts  that  since  have 

24 


come  to  California  have  come,  directly  or  indirectly, 
through  his  influence.  The  picture  he  painted  of  what  a 
University  should  be  was  placed  upon  the  canvas  by  a 
master  hand.  It  was  all  aglow  with  "the  light  that  never 
shone  on  sea  or  land."  He  was  far  ahead  of  his  time, 
and  the  ideals  he  presented  of  University  achievement 
have  not  yet  been  fully  realized  anywhere  in  the  world. 

He  came  to  a  divided  faculty,  but  left  behind  him  one 
that  was  loyal  and  united.  Fortunate  indeed  were  they 
who  felt  the  precious  touch  of  his  inspiration.  It  gave 
them  courage  and  strength  to  work  through  the  dark 
days  that  followed  his  departure,  with  firm  faith  in  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  ideals  he  represented. 

President  Gilman  always  opposed  the  lavish  expendi- 
ture of  money  on  college  buildings.  For  those  who  urged 
it  upon  him,  he  used  to  sketch  the  picture  of  "Mark 
Hopkins  at  one  end  of  a  log  and  a  student  at  the  other." 
With  the  limited  means  then  available,  he  felt  that  brains 
were  more  important  to  the  University  than  buildings. 
He  was  not  insensible  to  the  educational  influence  of 
noble  architectural  forms,  but  he  felt  himself  "a  voice  cry- 
ing in  the  wilderness,"  and  he  knew  that  this  gracious 
task  was  reserved  for  another  and  more  fortunate  hand. 

But  his  fame  rests  secure:  the  good  he  did  lives  after 
him ;  for  he  builded  the  Invisible  University,  that  lives 
and  grows  and  endures  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  a 
great  people. 


25 


Mr.  Horace  Davis,  former  President  of  the  University, 
was  asked  to  speak  of  Mr.  Gilman  and  his  work  in  Cali- 
fornia in  the  cause  of  higher  education,  and  responded 
as  follows: 

Mr.  Horace  What  I   admire  most  in  Dr.   Gilman  is  the  tenacity 

with  which  under  most  adverse  conditions  he  held  on  to 
his  high  ideal  of  a  university  and  worked  to  develop  it 
in  this  institution.  That  ideal  included  breadth  of  range 
and  lofty  aspirations.  In  these  aims  he  was  supported 
by  a  body  of  strong  earnest  men  in  the  Board  of  Regents, 
though  he  himself  was  the  heart  of  the  impulse,  the 
animating  force  at  the  center,  stimulating  and  directing 
the  movement.  But  we  must  not  forget  the  steady  pur- 
pose and  the  stalwart  strength  of  that  first  generation 
of  Regents  who  cheered  and  sustained  Gilman  in  his 
ambition  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  University 
broad  and  deep,  prophetic  of  its  present  high  attainment. 
But  they  met  little  sympathy  here. 

Public  sentiment  in  California  at  that  time  was  low  in 
matters  intellectual  and  moral.  We  were  a  community 
of  practical  men,  developing  the  material  resources  of 
a  new  land,  our  time  was  absorbed  in  the  practical  things 
of  everyday  life ;  we  had  hardly  emerged  from  the  pioneer 
stage,  the  schools  were  low,  libraries  were  few  and  small. 
There  were  not  many  men  who  could  see  things  from  a 
University  standpoint,  with  the  breadth  and  comprehen- 
siveness of  that  ideal. 

The  first  and  most  dangerous  attack  made  on  the 
University  was  the  effort  to  divide  it  into  separate 
independent  schools,  most  dangerous  because  it  appealed 
to  class  prejudice.  Had  this  succeeded,  in  place  of  a 
University,  we  should  have  had  a  lot  of  small  schools 

26 


scattered  over  the  State, — a  farmers'  school  here,  a  tech- 
nical institute  there,  and  a  college  of  arts  and  letters 
isolated  by  itself.  The  solidarity  would  disappear.  The 
conception  of  a  group  of  schools  united  in  one  body  sus- 
taining one  another's  ambition,  cheering,  encouraging 
each  other's  high  aims,  the  whole  constituting  a  uni- 
versity, covering  as  far  as  possible  the  range  of  human 
knowledge  and  human  hopes,  all  this  would  disappear. 

Gilman  was  a  gentle  nature,  and  ordinarily  had  no 
heart  for  fighting,  but  he  fought  this  proposition  to  the 
bitter  end.  Fortunately,  he  was  backed  up  by  strong 
forces  in  the  Board,  and  he  needed  all  the  strength  he 
could  gather.  The  farmers  were  against  him,  the  me- 
chanics opposed  him,  the  press  assailed  him,  but  he  held 
his  grip  and  won  out.  The  University  was  maintained  in 
its  integrity,  but  only  after  a  long  and  fierce  struggle. 

And  he  worked  just  as  devotedly  for  the  highest  attain- 
able standard  of  education.  Here  he  met  the  same  quality 
of  opposition,  the  teachers  complained  that  his  standards 
were  out  of  their  reach,  the  Boards  of  Education  said  the 
University  was  up  in  the  air.  But  Gilman  clung  to  his 
ideals,  believing  the  schools  would  ultimately  reach  them. 
The  result  has  justified  his  faith  and  his  aspirations. 

We  were  a  long  time  getting  up  to  his  standard  and 
it  took  many  a  struggle  to  reach  it.  Meantime  he  was 
drawn  away  to  more  attractive  fields,  but  others  stepped 
in  to  hold  the  fort.  The  hostility  he  met  with,  and  the 
indifference  of  the  mass  of  the  people  to  his  conceptions 
of  what  the  University  ought  to  be  must  have  discouraged 
him  and  inclined  him  to  accept  the  invitation  to  Johns 
Hopkins,  but  all  the  same  his  short  administration  set 
the  pace  for  its  future  growth.  Its  solidarity  was  main- 
tained, a  spirit  of  progress  was  engendered,  and  an  enthu- 

27 


siasm  for  better  things  which  made  possible  the  wonderful 
advance  which  has  since  been  realized.  Gilman  blazed 
the  trail  and  we  have  followed  in  his  footsteps.  We 
shall  always  hold  him  in  grateful  and  admiring  memory. 


Mr.  Warring  Wilkinson  was  asked  to  speak  of  the 
Berkeley  Club  and  its  fellowship,  and  responded  as 
follozus: 

Mr.  Warring  In  Memoriam  services  are  by  nature  and  purpose  al- 

Wilkinson  ways  of  a  serious  character,  but  sometimes  there  is  an 

element  of  pathetic  interest  attaching  to  the  service  that 
makes  the  occasion  more  than  usually  memorable.  To- 
night is  one  of  these  occasions.  We  are  here  to  celebrate 
the  thirty-sixth  anniversary  of  the  Club ;  we  are  also  here 
to  commemorate  the  life,  services,  and  recent  death  of 
Daniel  Coit  Gilman,  the  founder  of  the  Berkeley  Club, 
the  love  of  which  seems  to  grow  and  strengthen  in  the 
hearts  of  its  members  as  the  years  go  by.  The  pathos 
of  the  occasion  lies  in  the  fact  that,  of  the  little  coterie  of 
coadjutors  with  Mr.  Gilman  in  his  enterprise,  one  by  one 
has  passed  over  to  join  the  Great  Majority,  till  to-night 
the  dear  friend  who  presides  over  us  is  the  last  charter 
member  of  this  much  loved  organization,  but  who,  thank 
God,  still  lives  in  full  vigor  of  mind  and  body  to  uphold 
worthily  the  traditions  of  the  Club  and  the  honor  of  the 
sixteen  Immortals,  for  so  we  have  a  right  to  call  them 
who  attended  the  first  formal  dinner  and  meeting  of  the 
Club  around  the  table  of  Professor  Martin  Kellogg 
thirty-six  years  ago,  and  while  I  have  had  no  opportunity 
of  conferring  with  my  fellow  members,  I  am  sure  that 
I  express  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  you  all  when  I 

28 


say  that  it  is  our  earnest  hope  and  heartfelt  prayer  that 
Dr.  John  Knox  McLean  may  continue  for  many  a  year 
to  illumine  our  discussions  by  the  clarity  of  his  vision,  by 
the  largeness  of  his  experience,  by  the  humor,  wit  and 
wisdom  of  his  gentle  speech,  and  to  illustrate  to  us  all  by 
the  bright  example  of  his  long,  useful  and  unselfish  life 
and  career,  what  a  fine  thing  it  is  through  it  all  ever  to 
have  borne 

"without  reproach 
The  grand  old  name  of  gentleman." 

The  organization  of  the  Berkeley  Club  was  one  of 
those  quiet,  unobtrusive  beneficences  of  which  Mr.  Gil- 
man  during  his  stay  in  California  was  the  fruitful  source. 
It  did  not  come  into  the  world  with  any  fanfare  of 
trumpet  and  drum,  nor  with  any  literary  pyrotechnics. 
It  had  no  new  cult,  nor  apostolic  mission  to  proclaim.  It 
did  not  set  out  to  reform  society  or  the  world.  It  had 
no  political  purpose  or  aspiration,  and  so  it  has  never 
sought  its  membership  among  the  rich  or  the  mighty, 
but  has  always  endeavored  to  bring  together  a  small 
body  of  fifteen — twenty — thirty,  and  now  forty,  congenial 
men,  some  clergymen,  some  lawyers,  some  physicians, 
many  teachers,  and  some  men  of  affairs  with  large  ex- 
perience in  the  business  activities  of  life,  so  as  to  afford 
as  many  view  points  as  possible  of  the  subjects  under 
discussion.  It  is  not  and  never  has  been  a  publishing 
club,  though  many  of  the  papers  read  here  have  found 
their  way  into  print,  but  always  on  the  merit  of  the 
paper,  and  never  by  Club  subsidy  or  influence. 

I  was  not  a  member  during  the  coffee-and-ham-sand- 
wich  period,  so  humorously  described  by  Dr.  McLean, 
but  I  have  participated  in  its  weary  wanderings  through 
the  wilderness   in   search   of  manna  and  quails,   and   a 

29 


permanent  abiding  place,  till  our  good  fortune  and  the 
courtesy  of  the  Faculty  Club  brought  us  to  this  con- 
venient haven  of  cheer  and  rest. 

The  ritual  of  the  Club  is  very  simple,  a  modest  dinner 
without  wine ;  a  comforting  cigar  for  those  who  want  it ; 
a  roll  call ;  the  reading  of  a  paper  by  some  member  in 
alphabetical  order,  followed  by  a  discussion;  a  few  mo- 
ments of  hand-shaking;  good-night;  voila  tout.  No  pres- 
ident or  board  of  directors,  no  intrigues  for  preferment, 
for  all  stand  in  line,  and  each  takes  his  turn  as  host 
and  pays  for  the  enforced  privilege,  while  the  cheerful 
spirit  and  readiness  with  which  members  yield  precedence 
to  their  fellows,  especially  when  it  comes  to  the  matter 
of  reading  a  paper,  often  reminds  one  of  the  gracious 
self-negations  of  Messrs.  Alphonse  and  Gaston. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  story  of  the  Berkeley  Club,  and 
the  simple  method  of  its  conduct.  If  one  should  call  it 
a  social  club,  he  would  not  be  far  wrong;  if  he  should 
call  it  a  literary  organization,  he  would  speak  within 
the  limitations  of  truth;  and  if  one  should  call  it  a 
nursery  of  friendships,  promoted  by  the  genial  and  in- 
timate companionship  of  the  table,  and  stimulated  by  the 
atmosphere  and  intellectual  contacts  of  free  discussion, 
he  would  express  pretty  nearly  the  triple  function  of  the 
Berkeley  Club;  and  if  in  a  moment  of  exuberant  meta- 
phor, I  should  say  that  here  one  obtains  draughts  from 
the  fabled  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,  there  is  no  one 
present  old  enough  to  contradict  me,  but  our  Chairman, 
and  he  won't.  Indeed  under  this  arched  and  friendly 
roof,  twice  a  month  one  may  behold  that  marvelous 
miracle  for  which  poor  Faust  bartered  away  his  soul, 
so  legend  goes, — namely,  the  rejuvenation  of  age.    Here 

30 


young  men  set  the  pace;  the  middle-aged  stop  the  clock 
of  time,  while  the  old  men  turn  back  the  hands.  The 
aches  and  pains  of  life  with  "black  care"  in  the  saddle 
await  us  at  the  front  porch  where  we  left  them,  but 
when  our  fortnightly  exercises  are  over,  we  elders  slip 
out  the  back  door,  singing  as  we  go  the  closing  quatrain 
of  the  Autocrat's  thirtieth  anniversary  class  poem — 

"Then  here's  to  our  boyhood,  its  gold  and  its  gray; 
The  stars  of  its  winter,  the  dews  of  its  May; 
And  when  we  have  done  with  its  life-lasting  toys, 
Dear  Father,  take  care  of  thy  children,  the  Boys." 

And  all  these  years  of  joyous  companionship,  of  intel- 
lectual stimulus,  of  periodic,  though  transitory,  renewal 
of  youth,  we  owe  to  the  Berkeley  Club  whose  members 
will  ever  hold  in  honor  and  grateful  remembrance  the 
name  of  its  founder,  Daniel  Coit  Gilman. 


31 


MEMBERS    OF    THE    BERKELEY    CLUB. 

Thos.  Addison,  January  5,  1899. 
Wm.  F.  Bade,  March  3,  1904. 
E.  E.  Baker,  November  25,  1901. 
Anson  S.  Blake,  February  5,  1903. 
C.  B.  Bradley,  September  14,  1882. 
Chas.  R.  Brown,  November  12,  1896. 
J.  W.  Buckham,  November  12,  1903. 

E.  B.  Clapp,  March  1,  1894. 
Guy  C.  Earl,  September  19,  1895. 
John  Fryer,  October  15,  1896. 

J.  R.  Glascock,  February  1,  1883. 

C.  R.  Greenleaf,  May  7,  1896. 

M.  W.  Haskell,  November  20,  1890. 

F.  L.  Hosmer,  September  27,  1900. 
J.  G.  Howard,  November  12,  1903. 
J.  L.  Howard,  September  24,  1891. 

G.  H.  Howison,  September  4,  1884. 
Josiah  Keep,  September  22,  1887. 
A.  C.  Lawson,  November  9,  1899. 
Frank  A.  Leach,  March  1,  1900. 
F.  L.  Lipman,  May  11,  1905. 

J.  K.  McLean,  Charter  Member. 
Bernard  Moses,  September  28,  1876. 
A.  B.  Nye,  September  15,  1892. 
Warren  Olney,  January  12,  1882. 
Warren  Olney,  Jr.,  March  15,  1900. 
Whitney  Palache,  January  9,  1908. 
Geo.  C.  Pardee,  April  13,  1899. 

E.  L.  Parsons,  October  25,  1906. 
Geo.  C.  Perkins,  October  9,  1890. 
A.  J.  Pillsbury,  September  15,  1904. 
C.  C.  Plehn,  January  5,  1899. 

L.  J.  Richardson,  November  29,  1899. 
T.  A.  Rickard,  December  3,  1908. 
W.  B.  Rising,  April  10,  1873. 
H.  Morse  Stephens,  January  23,  1908. 

F.  S.  Stratton,  January  5,  1899. 

G.  M.  Stratton,  February  2,  1899. 
Irving  Stringham,  November  9,  1882. 
Earl  M.  Wilbur,  December  7,  1905. 
Warring  Wilkinson,  November  5,  1874. 
C.  J.  Woodbury,  September  24,  1887. 


